Privacy issues made headlines this week as Google's Streetview cars were found to be capturing more than just photos. Data about local wi-fi hotspots went far beyond the hotspot location, raising concerns across government and business, while at the same time exposing how little most people know about the data clouds that fill their street. It's time to wake-up to privacy.

The week before it was Facebook's turn, with social media games uncovered as the gateway to a wealth of personal data for advertisers to target against. Nothing wrong with trading free games for seeing targeted advertising, but most consumers seemed completely unaware of what they'd agreed to. The key takeout? Read the small print.

Younger internet users were also found to be having a tough time. Across Europe 1 in 8 children have 'had upsetting experiences online', making clear the need to teach more in schools about privacy, social networking and trust.

And here in the UK the government may be deep in the most brutal spending cuts in history, but it still found £650m for a new initiative to fight cybercrime and protect personal data.

The internet is defining the culture of our generation, but new behaviours need to be taught to companies and individuals alike if we are to handle these tools responsibly. Digital strategies and data strategies are essential to all organisations, so I hope you enjoy the stories below and the clicks behind them.


Best from all @ Digital


Danny Meadows-Klue
Founder and Chief Executive
Digital Strategy Consulting

Global digital access by region
Daily online access by region - among those who have access.

Men '60% more likely to have personal info stolen online'
Many Brits are unintentionally exposing personal information online, with men being more likely to let sensitive information slip, according to new research. The study, from fraud prevention firm Garlik, analysed the DataPatrol service alerts generated over the last 12 months for over 250,000 UK customers to produce the findings. Keep reading...
22/10/2010

UK Govt. to spend £650m on fighting cybercrime
The Prime Minister has pledged to spend £650 million, over the next four years, on managing the risks associated with cyberspace. In his speech to the Commons earlier this week, David Cameron said the government is developing a National Cyber Security Programme aimed at overhauling the UK's approach to cybercrime. Keep reading...
22/10/2010

Third of world will be online by end of year - UN report
The number of web users will surpass two billion this year, approaching a third of the world population, but developing countries need to step up access to the vital tool for economic growth, according to a report from a United Nations agency. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said that users have doubled in the past five years. Keep reading...
21/10/2010

1 in 8 kids have 'had upsetting experiences online'
More than one in eight children have been bothered or upset by online content finds a report published today based on interviews with 23,000 young people across Europe. However researchers stressed that the majority of children had no upsetting experiences on the internet and indeed were often comfortable doing things that some adults consider risky. Keep reading...
21/10/2010

Youngsters 'more reckless' with internet passwords
Nearly half of web users have shared their internet passwords with at least one person in the past year, with youngsters being the most reckless with their sensitive information, according to new research. Research released by Webroot has revealed that most commonly used password-protected sites among consumers are banks (88%), personal email accounts (86%), and Facebook (72%) - all of which are rife with sensitive information. Keep reading...
13/10/2010

Top Facebook apps caught 'leaking data to advertisers'
The top 10 applications on Facebook have all been transmitting user data, including access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names, to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking firms, according to a news report. The Wall Street Journal investigation found that the issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook's strictest privacy settings. Keep reading...
19/10/2010

Bing gets personal: adds Facebook 'likes' to search results
Microsoft's Bing search engine has begun showing users which sites and products their Facebook friends like. The move, which will initially be rolled out in the US over the coming weeks, forms part of a continuing four-year deal between the two companies. Keep reading...
18/10/2010

Police Tweet all 999 calls to protest Government cutbacks
Greater Manchester Police have completed a Twitter hashtag campaign, as a means of protesting Government cutbacks by revealing the sheer number of incidents they face in a single day. The project, which began at 5:00am Thursday last week, revolved around the Twitter account GMPolice tweeting every incident it deals with over a 24 hour-period, accompanied with the hashtag #GMP to help users search and share their comments. Keep reading...
18/10/2010

Facebook offers 'disposable' passwords via text
Facebook has launched two new features aimed at making the social network more secure. The company has introduced 'one-time passwords' aimed at people accessing Facebook on a public or shared computer, where other people could access profiles through browser history and stored cookies. Keep reading...
14/10/2010

Mobile
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UK mobile content revenues worth over £1bn in five years
Total UK revenues for mobile content and services, mobile advertising and marketing, will be £407.10 million in 2010, rising to £1.10 billion in 2015, according to a new report. The 'Mobile Market Trends: UK: Usage and Revenue Forecasts to 2015' report from mobileSQUARED says revenue growth will primarily be driven by increased mobile advertising spend - especially around 'conversational advertising'. Keep reading...
25/10/2010

Android 'overtakes iPhone ad revenue'
Google's Android ad revenue has surpassed that of Apple's mobile devices, despite the iPhone accounting for more ad impressions, according to new data from ad network Millennial Media.The study found that while the iOS platform remains the forerunner in terms of total market share, Android ad requests have grown 1,284 percent since January of this year while requests on iOS have only grown by 18 percent in that time period. Keep reading...
20/10/2010

23 million Brits have used phone to make purchases
New research from the Internet Advertising Bureau - the trade association for online and mobile advertising - reveals that mobile commerce has already become widely adopted in the UK, with 51% of mobile owners (23 million people) using their device to make payments, redeem coupons or research products and services. Keep reading...
18/10/2010

Angry Birds comes to Android: GetJar App store crashes due to demand
Mobile app store GetJar has exclusively launched the full Android version of the popular Angry Birds game for free, funded by advertising. The move means GetJar becomes the first distributor of the game, ahead of the Android app store. Keep reading...
18/10/2010

Do targeted ads work? Brand advertisers 'fail to reach their audiences online'
Nearly six in ten Britons (60 per cent) believe online advertising is neither relevant nor well targeted, according to a new YouGov survey. The research, carried out for the technology and media company Collective shows that brands are simply not connecting with the right audiences and wasting money on ineffective campaigns. Keep reading...
14/10/2010

Ecommerce
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Measuring shoppers' habits: New ecommerce metric "GEMS" gets European backing
A new measurement standard, called "GEMS" has won the backing of a number of European countries, in a move that could help online retailers and advertisers better understand how shoppers are using their sites, and compare their results with industry benchmarks. GEMS stands for Global E-commerce Measurement Standard GEMS, and is now supported by industry associations representing 75% of European e-commerce. Keep reading...
22/10/2010

Xmas coming early: Brits to spend £6.4bn online... but will spread the cost
Brits are predicted to spend £6.4 bn in December, up from £5.5 billion last year, but will be looking to spread the costs in times of economic uncertainty, according to a new study. The latest results from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal that British shoppers spent a total of £4.8 billion online during September (year-on-year growth of 24%), equivalent to £79 per person and bucking the recent fall in sales on the high street. Keep reading...
20/10/2010

Google Price index offers alternative measure of inflation
Google has launched a new 'Price Index' tool, which will be based on the cost of goods sold online and could use real-time search data to forecast official figures. The Google Price Index could prove more accurate and up-to-date than official statistics due to the instant nature of the transactions measured. Keep reading...
13/10/2010

Broadcasting
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Ofcom rejects YouView 'anti-competitive' complaints
Ofcom will not investigate YouView, despite claims from rivals that the TV-on-demand scheme from BBC, ITV, C4 and Five is anti-competitive. However, You View, previously know as Project Canvas was warned that the communications watchdog will act if it blocks rival platforms and services in future. Keep reading...
20/10/2010

Google admits to copying email and Wi-Fi passwords from Steet View cars
Google has admitted to copying household computer passwords and emails while gathering images using its Street View cameras, adding that it is determined to learn lessons from the mistake. Keep reading...
25/10/2010

Accounting site Crunch valued at £4m after funding boost from Bebo and Skype chiefs
Crunch.co.uk has secured a second round of funding with investments from Bebo co-founder Paul Birch and former Skype Chairman Michael van Swaaij, valuing the Online accounting service at £4m. Keep reading...
22/10/2010

John Lewis site tops usability poll of high street retailers
John Lewis' website offers customers the best online user experience out of the top UK high street retailers, and has been the most consistently easy to use website over the last five years, according to a new study. Keep reading...
20/10/2010

Google adds more location tools to search
Google has added tools to the left-hand panel of its search results, letting users change location details. Google previously pinpointed a users' location automatically, but the new tool lets users either change it completely or make it more specific, including by postcode. Keep reading...
20/10/2010

Top UK brands: Internet firms Apple, Google and Facebook top list
Internet brands are now the closest to UK consumers' hearts, with the three most popular brands in the UK coming from the web, according to a new survey. The latest Millward Brown celebrity and brand (Cebra) research revealed that Apple had the most buzz (a measure of how much a celebrity or brand is talked about) followed by Google, Facebook, X-Factor and Wii, highlighting the popularity of consumer technology. Keep reading...
19/10/2010

Yahoo takes on Facebook Connect with 'Y Connect'
Yahoo! is planning to launch Y Connect, letting users share content across multiple websites, in a similar way to Facebook's connect platform. Facebook Connect has been a huge hit for Facebook allowing web users to login and comment on multiple websites with their Facebook ID. Keep reading...
19/10/2010

Google beats forecasts as mobile business begins to pay off
Google, the search engine giant, registered a 32 per cent jump in profits, beating market expectations and highlighting the success of its emerging businesses. The internet giant posted net income of $2.2 billion (£1.4bn) after revenues rose 23 per cent to 7.3 billion US dollars (£4.6bn) in the third quarter of the year. Keep reading...
18/10/2010

Yahoo takeover bid rumours: AOL and News Corp named as suitors
Yahoo's shares rose 11% yesterday on the back on speculation that the struggling online media giant is the object of a takeover attempt, with both AOL and News Corporation in the running as possible bidders. Reuters reports that several private equity firms have approached Internet and media companies including News Corp and AOL to gauge their interest in buying out Yahoo. Keep reading...
15/10/2010

Bing takes on Baidu, partners Chinese retail giant for search push
Microsoft has partnered with China's largest online retailer Taobao.com, using Bing to power the web results for its new shopping search engine Etaosite. Taobao, which is a part of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, launched Etao as a public beta version, calling it a shopping search engine. Keep reading...
13/10/2010

MySupermarket gets $7.4m funding boost
UK shopping and comparison website mySupermarket has closed a $7.4m round led by Greylock Partners and Pitango Venture Capital and angel investors. mySupermarket has raised $22 million to date. Greylock and Pitango are both leading venture capital firms, and Greylock's investments include Facebook, Pandora, Wonga and Linkedin. Keep reading...
13/10/2010